Shūsuke Fuji
Shūsuke Fuji (不二 周助, Fuji Shūsuke) is one of the Prince of Tennis characters. His name is romanized as Syusuke Fuji in the Japanese anime, and Shūsuke Fuji in all the English versions. Background Shūsuke Fuji is a third year student at Seishun Academy. He is given the title "tensai", or genius, due to his tactical skill on the tennis court. He is in the same class as Eiji Kikumaru, and is Eiji's good friend. Fuji is a leap year baby (February 29), and thus he can only properly celebrate his birthday once every four years. Fuji is cheerful and easygoing, though sometimes called sadistic because of his tendency to playfully tease those around him. He is the middle child of the Fuji family. His unnamed father is a foreign-based employee, and is never seen in the series. His mother, 49-year-old Yoshiko, who also has perpetually-closed eyes, is seen in the manga as a kind and dedicated Japanese housewife. His younger brother, Yūta, is a tennis player at St.Rudolph. Fuji's older sister, 24-year-old Yumiko, is considered very attractive and is popular among both Fuji and Yūta's friends. He grew up in Chiba, where he became friends with Kojirō Saeki, the current vice-captain of Rokkaku Middle School Tennis Club. Later on, he moved to Tokyo and entered Seigaku. Fuji usually takes the position of S2 (Singles 2), although sometimes he is paired with Kawamura Takashi or Kikumaru Eiji in Doubles (with Kikumaru, they are called the "Dream Pair"). He and Echizen Ryoma temporarily take turns for the position of Singles 1 when captain Tezuka Kunimitsu is in rehabilitation. Though Fuji is considered No. 2 in Seigaku, second to Tezuka, Chitose Senri expresses his thoughts that between the two, Fuji is scarier. Similarly, while Fuji believes the legendary Chitose to be the strongest in Shitenhoji, Tezuka believes Shiraishi Kuranosuke to be more frightening. Fuji also seems to be one of few Seigaku Regulars (along with Shūichiro Oishi) who is genuinely close to Kunimitsu Tezuka , the captain of the tennis club. He and Tezuka are often seen together. Appearance Fuji awakened.jpg|An "Awakened" Fuji fuji4.jpg|Fuji with his eyes opened Fuji is often seen with a calm and content expression on his face, with his eyes seemingly closed from lightly smiling. However, when he is excited or provoked, or when playing seriously, Fuji reveals his sharp blue eyes (brown in the manga). He has well-layered light brown chin-length hair. His hair covers most of his forehead. He, like few other characters, has a pointy chin. Personality Fuji is often seen with a calm and content expression on his face, with his eyes seemingly closed from lightly smiling. However, when he is excited or provoked, or when playing seriously, Fuji reveals his sharp eyes: blue in the anime and light brown in the manga. No one truly knows his limit, not even he himself. Many believe that his limitless abilities can surpass each and every player in Prince of Tennis. Fuji generally seems very relaxed and in control, whilst his opponent is pushing himself to the limit, giving many the impression that Fuji is either a genius, who knows how to save his energy during plays, or that he does not really care about tennis itself. There are very few people who can "wake" the true player in Fuji and force him to play seriously, and these few are either nationally-ranked or extremely talented tennis players. Seigaku teammates Tezuka Kunimitsu and Echizen Ryoma, Shitenhōji captain Shiraishi Kuranosuke, and Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku regular Masaharu Niō have been acknowledged by Fuji to be actual challenges. Fuji is particularly protective of his younger brother Yūta (probably to make up for former disagreements that almost brought them apart), as displayed throughout the series; he actively tries to "destroy" and punish those who have defeated his younger brother or have made him go through something dangerous (as proved by how differently he treats Akutagawa Jirō from Hyōtei and Mizuki Hajime from St. Rudolph. Though he holds no personal grudge towards Jirō, who won fairly against Yūta, he does resent Mizuki for a long time after seeing how he treated his brother as someone expendable to ensure his team's victory). Yūta is also not the only person he has been protective of in this sense. He is very upset when he learns that Kirihara Akaya is the source of Ryoma's knee injury, and forces his decision to 'destroy' him. Prior to the Kantō Reigonal Tournament, Fuji states to himself and Tezuka that he has no motivation to win (at least in tennis). However, that changes upon seeing Tezuka's match against Atobe Keigo, and he plays seriously for the first time. The first to play a truly awakened/serious Fuji is Shiraishi Kuranosuke. Besides tennis, Fuji seems to hate lose in anything else he does, such as beach volleyball and winter sports. The first time his teammates have ever seen Fuji extremely disappointed in anything was after his match against Shitenhōji's Shiraishi Kuranosuke, where he suffers his first loss in an official tournament. Fuji is possibly the only person on the entire Seigaku team who is immune to (most of) Inui Sadaharu's various concoctions. However, while Tezuka only appears unaffected and does not state what he thought of the concoctions, it has been a running gag in the story that Fuji actually "likes" those drinks - although that does not stop him from mentioning that he enjoys seeing others suffer from drinking the concoctions even more. He is, however, not immune to "Aozu", a horrific blue vinegar and cod liver oil concoction; this drink causes his only blackout, and since then, Inui has believed that Fuji has a grudge against him. (Shown in the anime only event of when the Seigaku Tennis Club goes for billards.) His odd tastes in food do not stop at Inui's gruesome health drinks, and he takes delight in wasabi rolls, honey-mustard, and horse radishes. However, later on, Fuji seems to work harder to not end up drinking the oddly colored liquids. Anime Only Rather than being injured Ryoma, Fuji is actually upset about Tachibana Kippei's injuries and Kirihara's insults to Seigaku and Fudomine. According to what Fuji's sister, Yumiko, tells Hajime Mizuki and Yūta, Fuji never gets angry about what happens to him personally, and will only lose his cool if his family or friends are endangered (although this is somewhat contradicted by the events of the National Tournament. He does not react in the same way when coach Ryūzaki is attacked during his doubles match with Kawamura Takashi against Higa Chū. Although Fuji does reveal his Fourth Counter in this match, never is his anger awakened like it was with Kirihara, making Fuji use more dangerous moves like the Knuckle Serve). At times, Fuji tends to behave eccentrically. In episode 70, there is a mixed club day at his school, where the students are not allowed to play the sport that they are in. During this day, Fuji plays curling, which no one else plays, thus his words are, "Participants: zero, the championship is mine." (And perhaps indicating that he does at least at times care about "winning"). Fuji is fairly popular amongst his peers. In episode 134, he goes on a "date" with Kurumi (he had no choice; Momoshiro and Eiji made the decision for him), a grade schooler who falls in love with him at first sight, thinking of him as a prince of sorts. Despite his penchant for jokes and pranks off-tennis, Fuji can be insightful and even sweet when his friends need it; during his so-called date with little Kurumi, when she reveals that she has low self-esteem since she feels overshadowed by her older twin sister Narumi, Fuji helps her to sort their problems out, seeing his own situation with Yūta reflected in the sister's quarrels. History Two years Prior To The Storyline Two years prior to the start of the series, Fuji along with Tezuka Kunimitsu and Inui Sadaharu stood out amongst the other members of the school. As it stated before in the anime that Seigaku were a Prefectural level school during that time. In an OVA the three of them are seen defeating their senpais with relative ease, and it is mentioned by Kawamura how amazing they were along with Oishi never losing in Doubles and Kikumaru's acrobatic ability. Fuji challenges Tezuka to a match as Tezuka claimed his arm was fine. Fuji annihalates him 6-0 and realizes his arm must still be injured for such a win to happen. Fuji is completely mad at Tezuka and the two promise each other another match eventually. One Year Prior To The Storyline Fuji is stated in the Databook to have been a regular during this time. Current Year Fuji is first introduced in the series along with all of the other Seigaku regulars and is shown easily winning in his Intra-School ranking matches and is seen with the other regulars impressed with Echizen Ryoma as he pulls of huge upset defeats upon his arrival in beating Kaido Kaoru and Inui Sadaharu. Districts During the Tokyo Quarter-finals, Fuji was scheduled to play in the singles 1 slot against Gyokurin. He won the match easily with a 6-0. During the finals against Fudomine's Ishida and Sakurai, Fuji played in the doubles 2 slot along with Kawamura. This is where Fuji revealed his first counter of the Triple Counters, Tsubame Gaeshi (The Swallow Return). On the brink of victory, Fuji nonetheless decided to forfeit the match after seeing Kawamura's wrist broken from returning Ishida's fearsome Hadoukyu. Tokyo Prefecturals During the Quarter-finals, Fuji was pitted against the school of his younger brother, St. Rudolph. He played in the singles 2 slot against St. Rudolph manager Mizuki Hajime. At first, Fuji looks like Mizuki has found all his weaknesses and loses 5 games in a row, only to reveal that he was toying with him. Fuji destroys Mizuki and sweeps the remaining games without the loss of a point, and wins 7-5. Seigaku advances to the finals with the forfeit of their semi-finals opponents. In the finals, Seigaku played against Yamabuki Middle School. Fuji played in the doubles 2 slot with Kawamura against Nitobe and Kita. They lost (5-7 in the anime, 3-6 in the manga). Regionals In the first round of the Regionals, Seigaku played against Hyotei Academy. Fuji played in the singles 2 slot against the person who defeated his younger brother in a mere 15 minutes, Jiro Akutagawa. He easily won the match after not allowing Jiro to reach the net, 6-1. It is in this game that he reveals his Disappearing Serve and his third counter, Hakugei. In the Quarter-finals, Seigaku played against Midoriyama (Josei Shonan in the anime). He was in the Singles 1 spot, but did not have the opportunity to play since Seigaku won three of the matches already. The semi-finals were against Rokkaku Middle School, the top school from Chiba and a long-time regional tennis powerhouse. Their two schools were also long-time rivals and partners for practice matches. Fuji played in the doubles 1 slot along with his close friend Eiji. They played against Fuji's childhood friend, Kojiro Saeki, and his partner Itsuki. They are initially at a disadvantage, with Eiji's movements being sealed by Saeki, and with Fuji initially stopped from hitting Tsubame Gaeshi to Itsuki's returns being devoid of any spin. But Fuji and Eiji eventually win (6-3 in the manga, 6-2 in the anime) after Fuji realised how to make a near perfect Tsubame Gaeshi by using his own racket to add more spin to the ball. He and Eiji later trick Saeki to hit towards Fuji for him to return with a Tsubame Gaeshi. During the finals agaist Rikkaidai, Fuji played in the singles 2 slot against their second year ace, Kirihara Akaya. Fuji was injured multiple times but he did not care about his own well-being but for others. After learning that Kirihara was behind Ryoma's knee injury, he was angry enough that he began to play seriously. He used all his triple counters against Akaya; however, that was not enought to win. When the score was 3-0 in Fuji's favor, Kirihara smashes a ball at Fuji's head, which leaves him temporarily blind. Despite being blind, his senses were sharpened and he was eventually able to return the balls by feeling their presence. He won the match with a score 7-5 when Kirihara while in Muga no Kyōchi lost his grip on the racquet from hitting Sanada's Ka. Regional Select Invitationals Camp In this anime-only arc, Fuji along with his Seigaku teammates recieve an invite to the Kanto Region Japan Junior Training Camp. Regional Select Invitationals Fuji is chosen as a representative for the Kanto Region Japan Junior Team. He is selected to play as Singles Two against Arnold Ignashov, who was known as 'tennis machine'. This resulting a battle of the genius vs the tennis machine. Though Arnold's coach talked to him in an attempt to make him feel sorry for Arnold and ensure that this one would win, Fuji won the match for he realized that the only reason a loss would result in Arnold returning to his hellish previous life was his coach. Prior to Nationals Fuji plays a practice match against Fudomine's Kippei Tachibana, a national-level player who breaks each of Fuji's Triple Counters (manga). Realizing that his counters are not enough for a national-level tournament, Fuji develops his fourth counter, Kagerō Zutsumi (Dragonfly Illusion). Nationals 12.Higuma Otoshi.jpg|Fuji using Higuma Otoshi. 11.Fuji shot.jpg 18.Fuji Smash.jpg 21.Hirakoba Smash.jpg 29.Opponents.jpg|Fuji/Kawamura after defeating Hirakoba/Chinen pair. Fuji in action2.jpg Seigaku regulars watching.jpg fuji39.jpeg|Fuji on the brink against Shiraishi Fuji and the rest of the Seigaku team arrive at the Nationals and witness the straight set demolition of Rokkaku by Higa Chuu, who are set to be their first opponents of the tournament. Higa display a violent manner of tennis while playing against Rokkaku which Seigaku greatly disapproves of. The 2nd Round begins with Seigaku taking on Higa Chuu and after Echizen Ryoma wins Singles 3 against Tanishi Kei , giving Seigaku the lead, Fuji plays in Doubles 2 with Kawamura against the Chinen Hiroshi and Hirakoba Rin pair. At first, Fuji and Kawamura are in trouble as for the first time, Fuji's triple counters are completely sealed by Hirakoba Rin who uses Shukuchiho to great effect. In addition to this, Hirakoba's technique Habu, which involves a wild spin on the ball after bouncing makes Hadoukyuu nearly impossible to use. The match drags on to Higa Chuu taking a 5-3 lead. At triple-match point for Higa, Hirakoba decides to show off Ohabu, an even better form of Habu. It is here that Fuji reveals his Fourth Counter. Both Chinen and Hirakoba were helpless against the shot. And due to Hirakoba's overuse of Habu, the next Habu serve had far less spin on it, and Kawamura was able to return it using his now unsealed Hadoukyuu. Thanks to Fuji's Fourth Counter and the newly revitalized Hadoukyuu, Fuji and Kawamura eventually win 7-5. Fuji is rested during the match against Hyotei in the Quarterfinals. It is the first time that he was placed as a reserve player. In the Semifinals, Fuji plays in Singles 3 against Shiraishi Kuranosuke of Shitenhouji. At first he is shockingly overwhelmed by Shiraishi's "Perfect Tennis" or "Bible Tennis", which breaks all his counters and quickly falls behind 5-0, unable to get even a point. Seemingly at the brink, Fuji finally awakens his dormant potential, and reveals not only an evolved form of all three Triple-Counters, but additionally revealing his Fifth Counter, Hecatoncheires no Monban, and catches up. Ultimately though, he loses 6-7 in a heartbreaking fashion due to a last lob (which left Shiraishi helpless) ended up being a few centimeters out. In the Finals of the Nationals, Seigaku were on course for a complete disaster after losing a tense Singles 3 and Doubles 2 to Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. With everything on resting on the shoulders of Fuji for Singles 2 against Niou Masaharu, Fuji jumps into an early lead, but the Trickster of the Courts shockingly takes the shape of Tezuka and later Shiraishi. The fate of Seigaku rests on Fuji's ability to defeat his two strongest adversaries. It is in this game that Fuji unveils his Sixth Counter. U-17 Camp The Fuji brothers easily getting balls.jpg|The Fuji brothers easily obtain balls. Fuji watches on at the camp.png|Fuji at the start of the Team Shuffle. Fuji requesting a match against Tezuka.png|Fuji requesting a serious match against Tezuka. A stressed Fuji takes a swing.png|Fuji against Tezuka before the latter leaves to Germany. A powerless Fuji up against Tezuka.png|Fuji in action against Tezuka. Fuji in tears after being wiped by Tezuka.png|An emotional Fuji after what is likely his last match with close friend Tezuka. Fuji along with the rest of the Seigaku regulars and several other middle schoolers recieve invitations to the All-Japan Junior Training Camp, which, for the first time ever, allowed Middle Schoolers to compete for Representative places along with High Schoolers. Fuji like all the 50 middle schoolers, was able to obtain a ball that fell from the helicopter where the conditions were those without a ball must go home. Afterwards, the Mental Coach arrives and asks individuals to pair up. Believing this to be for doubles games, Fuji pairs up with his younger brother Yuuta. The Mental Coach coldly requests all pairs to play short tie-break games. The loser of the tie-break games must go home. Fuji effortlessly beats his younger brother, however Yuuta is pleased his older brother played seriously. Later on, Yuuta is taken to the mountains to train while Shusuke defeats his next High School opponent(s) to become a member of the 6th Court. In the anime, during Ryoma, Kenya, and Kei's special mission for Coach Nyudo, Fuji wakes up after Kei causes the alarm system to sound after running through the lasers. He and Shiraishi are confused as to why the alarm was sounding, but they never find out that it was because of their fellow middle schoolers. Team Shuffle Fuji looks on as part of the large audience of the Team Shuffle between 5th Court and 3rd Court where the 5th Court became victors and swapped places with the latter. Afterwards, he and Tezuka have their promised match after Tezuka unlocks Muga no Kyouchi: Tenimuhou no Kiwami. Fuji is unable to match this like all other players in the series and is effortlessly defeated by Tezuka, the first time in the series that Fuji was shown to be effortlessly defeated. However Fuji in this scene promised to himself that he has to go higher. Fuji returns back to the Team Shuffle with Kikumaru Eiji who witnessed the match between his teammates while Tezuka goes off to Germany. The middle schoolers then get involved in a massive pillow fight. U-17 Camp Revolution Fuji is then present at the camp for the return of the Top 10 and the shocked to hear news that No.s 11-19 have all been replaced by Middle Schoolers (Yukimura + members of the "Revolutionary Brigade"). Tennis Record Tournament Matches *'NOTE-1' The match against Midoriyama only took place in the manga, while Josei Shonan's match existed only in the anime. *'NOTE 2' No results due to Seigaku already winning 3 sets *'NOTE-3' In the manga, Fuji won with the score of 7-5, while in the anime, Fuji won with the score of 6-4. Seigaku Ranking Matches Unofficial Matches *'NOTE-1' Due to Tezuka's arm still being injured after an incident, he was unable to play to his full potential, which was something that Fuji was not happy about. * NOTE-2 The score was at least 15-30 during the 1st game (with Tachibana serving), but due to Fuji's racquet strings breaking, the match was unable to be continued. U-17 Camp Results Playing Style and Techniques Fuji is a counterpuncher, playing a steady game and attacking at the right time. Most of his techniques are designed to specifically counter an opponent's strength, which gives him the title of a genius. Serve and Volley After facing Jirou in the Hyotei arc, Fuji sometimes during matches might change his play style to serve and volley. Though he is not nearly as good as a regular serve and volley player, he still can do it. Counters Sometimes called the "Three Counter Moves" (or more often called the Triple Counters). Game sealing returns, the counters are techniques that could only be pulled off by a genius like Shūsuke Fuji. Each counter has a very low chance of being returned. Later on in the series, during the Nationals, Fuji upgrades his Triple Counters and reveals more counters: Kagerō Zutsumi, Hecatoncheires no Monban and Hoshi Hanabi. Although Fuji develops six counters, his set of counters is still called "Triple Counters". Fuji's first four counters are based on animals: Tsubame Gaeshi: Swallow; Higuma Otoshi: Brown Bear; Hakugei: Whale; Kagerō Zutsumi: Dragonfly. When Fuji "evolves" his Triple Counters in his game against Shiraishi, their new names are based on mythical creatures: Houou Gaeshi: Phoenix; Kirin Otoshi: Qilin; Hakuryu: Dragon. ;Tsubame Gaeshi (つばめ返し, Tsubame Gaeshi, trans. "Swallow Return") The first of Fuji's counters to be shown and the one he is often most associated with. Fuji utilizes his opponent's topspin by returning the ball with an extreme slice that doubles the amount of spin. The slice combines with the topspin and causes the ball to dip toward the ground and continue rolling across the court without a bounce. Tsubame Gaeshi can still be returned if it is hit before it touches the ground, which only a handful of players have succeeded in doing. Additionally, Tsubame Gaeshi can be sealed when an opponent can hit "sinkers" (balls without spin). Fuji can still hit an incomplete Tsubame Gaeshi by rolling the ball with his racket, adding some spin to hit a heavy slice, but it is not complete, as the ball does not have enough spin to roll across the court, and will still have a slight bounce. However, Fuji can force the opponent to hit cord balls (balls that hit the top of the net before going in), which forces the ball to spin, and along with rolling the ball with his racket, he can pull off a perfect Tsubame Gaeshi. In his match against Tezuka, Fuji uses the Tsubame Gaeshi in a reverse manner, dubbed the Reverse Tsubame Gaeshi (リバースつばめ返し). Instead of adding backspin to an opponent's topspin shot, Fuji adds extreme topspin to a slice/backspin shot. This also causes the ball to simply roll along the ground, like the original Tsubame Gaeshi, making it almost impossible to return. ;Higuma Otoshi (羆落とし, Higuma Otoshi, trans. "Bear Drop") By quickly rotating his body, Fuji uses centripetal force to absorb the force of any overhead smash; he then returns the ball with a lob that almost always lands on the opponent's baseline. This counter is first broken by Echizen Ryoma, who hits cord balls to change the trajectory of his smash, therefore altering the position of Fuji's lob and forcing the ball out. Powerful smashes can also overpower the centrifugal force used to nullify the force of a smash. In the first round of the National Tournament, the Shukuchihō technique of Higa Chuu renders the counter useless, as Higa players can move from the baseline to the net and vice versa in "one step". ;Hakugei (白鯨, Hakugei, trans. "White Whale") Fuji's third counter, Hakugei is a super slice lob with such extreme backspin that as soon as it passes over the net on to the opposite court, it curves upwards out of sight, than it falls straight down (usually on the baseline), and it flies back to Fuji's hand. However, Fuji needs wind to use Hakugei. It is first shown during Fuji's match against Hyōtei's Akutagawa Jirō. Hakugei can be returned if the opponent is fast enough to hit the ball as it flies back to Fuji's hand. Fuji can also change the direction of the ball after it hits the opponent's court, either to go with the direction of the wind or to lessen the chance of a return. In the anime, Fuji changes the direction in his match against Tezuka, where Tezuka approaches the net to wait for the technique, but Fuji adapts and the ball instead flies into the net away from Tezuka. Hakugei is completely broken by Shiraishi Kuranosuke's Perfect Tennis when he changes the direction of how he returns the ball by 90 degrees, hitting it softly in a lateral way. ;Fourth Counter - Kagerō Zutsumi (蜉蝣包み, Kagerō Zutsumi, lit. Dragonfly Illusion) Fuji's fourth counter, Kagerō Zutsumi uses both hands as he brings his racket down in an overhead swing that both contains and nullifies all spin on the ball. The ball is then returned devoid of spin, and gives the other player the illusion that the ball is farther than it actually is. {C}This counter is first revealed in Seigaku's first Doubles match with Kawamura against Higa Chū in the National Tournament. However, Kagerō Zutsumi is apparently useless against Kuranosuke Shiraishi's Perfect Tennis as the returning ball without spin comes to Shiraishi's court very slowly and he simply smashes the ball to win the point. ;Hōō Gaeshi (鳳凰返し, Hōō Gaeshi, lit. Phoenix Return) The upgraded version of Tsubame Gaeshi Fuji creates in his match against Shiraishi. Unlike Tsubame Gaeshi, Hōō Gaeshi sinks at a higher rate and is closer to the net, thus making it much harder to return before it lands. Hōō Gaeshi is first defeated by Niō Masaharu in Tezuka's form; like the Tsubame Gaeshi, the ball can be returned by hitting the ball before it touches the ground. ;Kirin Otoshi (麒麟落とし, Kirin Otoshi, lit. Kirin/Qilin Drop) The upgraded version of Higuma Otoshi. The only visible difference from this technique is that Fuji uses two hands to repel Shiraishi's smash rather than the one handed Higuma Otoshi. In the OVA, it reaches the opponent's baseline much faster than Higuma Otoshi. Kirin Otoshi is first defeated by Niō Masaharu, who uses Tezuka's form to return the ball by using the Tezuka Zone to make the ball enter his side rather than letting it go to his baseline. ;Hakuryū (白'龍', Hakuryū, lit. White Dragon) The upgraded version of Hakugei. Unlike Hakugei, Hakuryū rises much higher into the sky. Instead of spinning backwards to Fuji, the ball will bounce towards the sides. Hakuryū is first defeated by Niou Masaharu, who uses Tezuka's form and returns the ball by smashing it before it bounces. ;Fifth Counter - Hecatoncheires no Monban (百腕巨人の門番, Hekatonkeiru no Monban, lit. Gate Keeper of Hecatoncheires) Fuji's fifth counter (first stated to be his "final" counter), Hecatoncheires no Monban, is actually translated to "The Hundred Armed Giant", but this is a title from Greek Mythology, and thus kept with the name "Gate Keeper of Hecatoncheires". Using the reverse side of the racket, Fuji uses the slide of the oncoming ball over the gut and forcing a super spin to the ball. Then by instantaneously reversing his wrist and using the other side of the racket, he doubles the spin yet again. The way this counter works is from the extreme underspin Fuji creates, forcing the ball being returned back to him being a topspin, and topspins have a faster sink, making the ball sink before it passes the net. Shiraishi Kuranosuke manages to overcome the tremendous spin of the ball and breaks this counter by creating a counter-spin on the ball just strong enough for the ball to go beyond the net as a cord ball. ;Sixth Counter - Hoshi Hanabi (星花火, Hoshi Hanabi, lit. Star Fireworks) Hoshi Hanabi is Fuji's sixth counter. He reveals it during the Singles 2 match against Rikkai Dai's Niō Masaharu in the National Finals. When the opponent hits a cord ball as a result of returning Hecatoncheires no Monban, Fuji responds by launching the ball straight into the sky, out of anyone's field of vision. Due to a certain wind, the ball will then crash land at a very high speed with an irregular spin and it will bounce to any side. He first used this technique in his match against Shitenhōji's Shiraishi on his last shot but the shot was out. The name of the technique was not yet revealed that time. According to Sadaharu Inui, Hoshi Hanabi can be performed by Fuji because he can read the wind. Serves ;Disappearing Serve (消えるサーブ) Otherwise known as a "cut-serve", but because Fuji spins the ball as he drops it, this particular underhand serve makes the ball also disappears. While not as fast or powerful as most serves, many players are caught off guard by the way the ball abruptly "cuts" to the left (the returner's right), and in a sense "disappears". Fuji first uses this move when he faces Jirō Akutagawa from Hyōtei Academy. The Disappearing Serve is completely broken by Shiraishi's Perfect Tennis during the National Semifinals. Others Closed Eye (心の瞳) ' A state that sharpens Fuji's abilities greatly. Fuji used it first at Kantō Finals during his match with Kirihara after he blinded him with a smash. But it's at the National Finals in his match against Niō Masaharu when Fuji refines his "Closed Eye" mode, even being able to aim for a cord ball and break all of Tezuka's techniques, including Hyaku Ren Jitoku and Saiki Kanpatsu no Kiwami. Anime Only 'Upper Body Split Step ' This move was created out of need at the Kantō Tournament finals during his match with Kirihara who hurt Fuji's knee. The difference in speed allows Fuji to cover the court more effectively. 'Australian Formation In episode 136: Junior Selection Camp, Gathered, Fuji and Saeki pair up as a doubles pair against Inui and Yanagi pair. When they were losing, both Fuji and Saeki surprised viewers with their ability to use the Australian Formation. This allowed Fuji to use his first counter, Tsubame Gaeshi, in the match. ;Knuckle Serve (ナックルサーブ) This move is shown when Fuji is playing Akaya Kirihara from Rikkai Dai in the anime. Due to the fact that Fuji is angry, he uses the Knuckle Serve to take revenge. Before the user throws the ball in the air, the user squeezes the ball first to add an extreme and unpredictable spin. Its direction can only be seen by the one who served it. Personal Information *Height: 167 cm *Weight: 53 kg *Blood Type: B *Eyesight: Left; 1.2, Right; 1.0 *Horoscope Sign: Pisces *Hobbies: collecting/taking care of cactus, photography, and billiards. *Family Composition: Father, Mother (Yoshiko), Older Sister (Yumiko), Younger Brother (Yuuta) *Uses allowance on: Necessities for his cacti *Favorite Motto: "What is precious is invisible to the eye." *Elementary School: Seiharudai Daisan *Favorite Subject: Classic Literature *Worst Subject: Science *Committee: Yearbook Production Committee Member *Often visited place in school: Photography Room *Favorite Color: Beige. *Favorite Foods: Apples, Cajun Cuisine, spicy ramen noodles *Favorite Movies: Musicals *Favorite Books: Interior design magazines *Favorite Music: Celtic music *Preferred Type: elegant girls with nice manners and pretty fingers. *Favorite date spot: Planetarium *Most wanted thing right now: Antique interior furnishing or tableware *Daily Routine: Looking after his cacti and drinking morning coffee *Doesn't like/bad at doing: Sour things, Things that taste like vinegar *Special skill aside from tennis: Skiing, ice skating, and other winter sports. *Favorite Shoe Brand: Nike (NIKE READY AIR BISCAYNE MID III). *Favorite Racquet Brand: Prince (Michael Chang Titanium). Relationships *Yuta - Fuji loves his younger brother very much and is protective of him ever since they were very young. Yuuta, initially, seems to dislike his older brother due to the fact he has been compared to his brother. This was the reason why Yuuta left Seigaku to attended St. Rudolph. They eventually have a good brotherly relationship and it makes Fuji happy to see Yuuta becoming stronger. *Tezuka Kunimitsu - Tezuka and Fuji have been very close friends since they were 1st year students. Fuji sees Tezuka as his rival in tennis having even skills against each other. Fuji really values his friendship with Tezuka. When Tezuka left U-17 for Germany - after losing to him - Fuji shed tears, not for his lost in tennis but for the final farewell to his closest friend. Tezuka is never seen without Fuji when they were in Seigaku and has shared some smiles with each other. *Yumiko - Shusuke and Yuuta's older sister who is very supported for her younger brothers even barely seen in the anime she seem supportive for her brother and tries to watch their matches whenever she can, she show her love for them by giving rides home from school, her home cooking and some fortute telling which Fuji say is really scary since it almost predictable. *'Other senior regulars (Eiji, Oishi, Inui and Kawamura)'- Fuji has good friendship with his fellow seniors knowing them since there 1st year days having Eiji and Kawamura has occiasional double parthers and been in the same class and seatmates (Eiji) Fuji and Inui also have good terns having to (only person) who enjoy his vegatable juices he also respect Oishi has Tezuka's secondary the way he looks after them specially during Tezuka's absence. *'The younger members (Ryoma, Momoshiro, Kaidoh and freshmen trio)'- as a senpai Fuji cares for the younger members of the team, despite the usual provoking he does to them Ryoma and Fuji have quite the rivaly has play him against his own limits he also seem to treat him like his little brother (the fact his the youngest in the team). Fuji also seem to able to keep Kaidoh and Momo control when get out of control and have occiasonal friendly matches with them has good terns with them. Fuji also has a good relations with the freshmen trio. Trivia *The kanji for Fuji (不二) stands for 'not second', 'unparalleled', or 'peerless'. His name can also be seen as a bit of a pun when his hobbies and favorite foods are taken into account; Fujifilm is the world's largest photographic and imaging company, and one of Fuji's hobbies is photography. Fuji apples are a type of apple, and they are one of Fuji's favorite foods. *In a chibi episode and in TeniPuri family, Fuji is portrayed as a woman, playing off on his somewhat feminine looks. In the TeniPuri family episodes, he is the sweet yet impulsive Grandmother of the family and is often paired up with Tezuka, who plays the Grandfather. In the other Tenipuri chibi episode, settled in the Far West, he plays a damsel in distress-type girl searching for a Lone Gunman who later turns out to be Tezuka. *In all the Shonen Jump character popularity poll of series, Fuji has remained in the top two. Besides the second character popularity poll, where Fuji came in first place, Fuji has come in second place in every other poll. *Fuji and Echizen Ryoma came joint 1st in the 1st New Prince of Tennis Popularity Poll. *In addition, in the Valentine Chocolate specials of the manga, Fuji has constantly been in the top three recipients of chocolate, including receiving the most in 2001, with the exception of the years 2005 and 2006. *Fuji is one of the few male characters in the anime who is voiced by a female voice actor, others being Ryoma Echizen, Kintarō Tōyama of Shitenhōji, Taichi Dan of Yamabuki, Yōhei and Kōhei Tanaka of Jōsei Shonan (the latter two being anime only characters), and Seiichi Yukimura of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. However, Ryoma, Kintarō and Taichi are first years, thus younger and more naturally voiced by a female seiyū, but despite Fuji and Yukimura being third years, they are also voiced by female seiyū. *In the Japanese original, both Fuji and his sister Yumiko are voiced by Yuki Kaida. *For the live-action adaptation film of The Prince of Tennis, Tenimyu actor Hiroki Aiba portrays Fuji. *In The Prince of Tennis Musical, Fuji is portrayed by actors Kimeru (2003-2005), Takashi Nagayama (2003-2004), Hiroki Aiba (2005-2007, 2008), Yūta Furukawa (2007-2009), and 'Taito Hashimoto '(2008-2010), and 'Ryou Mitsuya '(2011-present). *Fuji is shown to possess skills on the piano( as shown in Another Story 2) as well as horse-riding, judo, and curling. *In the anime only, Fuji has a tendency to borrow items that have earned honor. For example, he borrows Taka's racket after Taka played honorably and he borrows Tachibana's grip tape after Tachibana tried hard to beat Rikkai Dai but sprained his ankle instead. *Fuji seems to never fail to make Tezuka smile when they make eye contact whenever Tezuka sees Fuji it leaves a small smile in his face. *Now that Tezuka has left for Germany, Fuji is likely the strongest third-year from Seigaku in the U-17 camp. *Despite being a third year student he is one of the shortest members in Seigaku. *Fuji is the youngest of the third years in the Seigaku Tennis club. *Fuji's Fifth Counter - Hecatoncheires no Monban is an illegal shot in real llife tennis. *According to Inui in Fanbook 40.5, Fuji has won an award for his theory research on cacti. His theory paper has become a big topic and the analysis has earned praises from even the university researchers. Gallery 24.jpg Grandma Fuji.jpg|Fuji as the Grandmother of the TeniPuri family. Lady Fuji 2.jpg|Fuji in "Prince of Wilderness" Fuji 2.jpg Tableclothtrick.jpg|Chibi of Shusuke Fuji doing his tablecloth trick but failed and the stuff falling on Mizuki of St. Rudolf and his younger brother ,Yuta Fuji9.jpeg|Fuji from The Prince of Tennis: Eikoku-shiki Teikyū-jō Kessen!movie Fuji.jpeg ImagesCA8GZ2WN.jpg|Fuji Syusuke gakuensai-no-oujisama-4.jpeg|Fuji Syusuke in Gakuensai no Oujisama gakuensai-no-oujisama.jpeg|Gakuensai No Oujisama Fuji Syusuke Screen shot 2012-10-22 at PM 11.17.37.png|Nationals OVA 16 tumblr_m8fv8iMNnh1rt7p2l.gif|Fuji Syusuke in New Prince Of Tennis after the match with Tezuka tumblr_lxnadamnuJ1qj4rqao1_500.jpeg tumblr_m16vmona1F1qhmfheo8_400.jpeg tumblr_mak4py8jNk1rtk8eho1_500.jpeg Screen shot 2012-11-13 at PM 10.26.00.png Fuji Siblings.png|Shuusuke and Yuuta giving birthday presents to Yumiko Fuji home.png|Fuji family's home Category:Characters Category:Kanto Junior Select Team Category:Capable with Singles and Doubles Category:Kanto Players Category:Counterpuncher Category:Tennis Player Category:2nd Stringers Category:Tokyo Players Category:Has an episode named after them Category:3rd Year Middle School Category:Seigaku Tennis Club Member Category:U-17 Camp Category:Middle Schooler Category:Right-Handed